The literati’s interest in Emperor Huizong of Song’s flower and bird paintings

The rise of ink and wash meticulous flower and bird painting is in line with the embryonic development of literati painting theory in the Song Dynasty, and represents the shift of flower and bird painting from practicality in decorating palaces in the early Northern Song Dynasty to self entertainment, cultivating temperament, and expressing the appreciation of taste; The shift from high walls and large screens to the appreciation of literati ‘desks has enriched the diversity of painting art.

Zhao Ji’s other ink and wash meticulous flower and bird works include “Liu Bru Tu”, “Pond Autumn Evening Tu”, “Four Birds Tu”, etc. This art form achieved high achievements in the Song Dynasty, such as the unknown “Ink and Wash Hundred Flowers Tu juan” in the Song Dynasty, which, like Zhao Ji’s ink and wash meticulous flower and bird form, does not use color, but is more rigorous in the use of pen and ink than Zhao Ji’s works, which is a gorgeous extreme and belongs to a plain aesthetic.

Today’s meticulous flower and bird painting creation is in a stage where a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend. However, the shortcomings are also obvious, especially in the color expression of traditional Chinese painting, where it is difficult to grasp the degree between elegance and vulgarity. In meticulous flower and bird painting, it is easy to paint rich and colorful, but difficult to paint light and elegant, and it is even more difficult to see light and elegant in rich and colorful. Many painters began to pay attention to ink and wash meticulous flower and bird paintings, and many of Zhao Ji’s ink and wash meticulous flower and bird paintings began to receive attention. Zhao Ji based his painting style on Cui Bai and refined it through the theory of literati painting in the Northern Song Dynasty, enriching the expression forms of meticulous flower and bird paintings. Due to the high requirements for the overall quality of the painter, this form of painting not only requires superb techniques and practical experience in observing and comprehending nature, but also possesses the literary and calligraphy cultivation of literati. There are few successors, but it has a very positive reference significance for the expression form of today’s meticulous flower and bird painting creations.